


Golden Butterflies and Silver Strings

by Feenie



Category: Persona 2, Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Fan name for P5 Protag, Gen, In-universe theorizing, Not Canon Compliant, October 4th hasn't happened yet, Spoilers for Persona 2, What if Scenario, baby protagonists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 11:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3380408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feenie/pseuds/Feenie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the best way to prepare for the future is to give kids Personas. AKA, Maya, Ulala and Naoya teach future protags the Persona game. Spoilers for Persona 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Golden Butterflies and Silver Strings

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this was written within a single morning out of a desire to write a sequel to What Will Happen. I changed the last half of this at least five times, so if there's any inconsistencies, forgive me.

It had been several weeks since Maya and her friends had discovered that mysterious hour, where those Shadows came out to play. The sky today was a drab shade of gray, a cold wind blowing throughout the city as a reminder winter was coming soon. Maya shuddered as a gust blew past her, the reporter and Ulala taking a walk around Sumaru to get some fresh air. After alerting Katsuya to this sudden occurrance, the three plus Baofu, Kei, and Eriko agreed to take turns each day (well, night) to keep the city safe. Tonight was Ulala's turn, last night having been Katsuya's turn.

"Do you think Little Suou would have known about Big Suou sneaking out last night?" Ulala asked Maya as they walked. "I mean, assuming he wasn't turned into one of those coffins..."

"I hope not. I feel bad for them, Tatsuya alone has had a really tough time of things..." Maya responded, shrugging weakly.

"I'll say. Almost seems like Nyarlathotep is desperate to have something happen to them, given that last little 'adventure' and now this. Do you think he could have manipulated those scientists?" Ulala remarked.

Maya hesitated before nodding. "Kei said the scientists had broken off from the Nanjo Group some time before we even knew about Tatsuya's situation. Maybe it happened in that other timeline thing too..."

"Maybe. I don't suppose it would be worth trying to get to Philemon again to ask?" Ulala asked, jokingly, before she added, "Maybe it only happened in this timeline, because Nyarlathotep wanted a safety net to cause trouble in the event he got his ass handed to him this time around."

Maya didn't respond at first, recalling the child Kei had mentioned. Minato Arisato...the timing between him having the accident and Nyarlathotep getting beaten up by Maya's group seemed almost uncanny. Maybe Ulala was right...did that mean the poor child would wind up suffering like Tatsuya did?

"Ma-Ya?" Ulala asked, looking at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, Ulala..." Maya responded, shakily. The idea of another person suffering because of _him_ was upsetting. There had been enough trouble without another kid or two getting mixed up in another mess!

"Ma-Ya, you look like you're sick. Let's look for a place to sit down for a while, alright?" Ulala asked. Maya nodded weakly. The women looked around briefly before they realized they were near Araya Shrine, a small boy with blue hair looking up at the shrine in curiosity, and an older man with black hair with a pierced ear looking on carefully. Another boy with black hair, who looked younger than the blue-haired child, was sitting on a bench, huddled up in a jacket.

"Hey, isn't that the guy Eriko was talking about?" Ulala asked Maya. "She said her friend had a pierced ear. Is that him?"

"Maybe! Let's go and see," Maya responded. The two approached the shrine, and the man with the pierced ear was the first to notice them. He didn't immediately greet them, unsure of who they were, until he gave a quiet "ah!" when he realized who was approaching the shrine. The older boy was still looking up at the shrine, the younger boy looking at the women in curiosity.

"You two are Maya Amano and Ulala Serizawa, right? Eriko and Kei told me about you and your friends. I'm Naoya Toudou," the man greeted.

"It's nice to meet you, Naoya! I guess you kind of know what's been going on in Sumaru?" Maya asked.

Naoya nodded, sighing. "I wish I could've been here to help. I knew _something_ was going on, considering Kandori's Persona went nuts when we fought him, but...I'm sorry you guys had to go through that."

"Hey, it's over with, we're just protecting the city now," Ulala replied, shrugging. "It's almost like we're guardian deities for Sumaru, or something like that..."

"I think a better term would be 'super heroes'..." Maya pointed out before asking, "Are those kids yours?"

"Well, the older kid is sort of a cousin, if that's what you mean. Minato?" Naoya called, and Maya and Ulala's hearts sank. The boy with blue hair seemed to finally notice the two Persona users, and ducked behind Naoya in response.

"...Minato? As in, Minato Arisato?" Maya quietly asked.

"Yeah. Minato, do you want to say hi?" Naoya asked the boy cowering behind him. Minato shook his head, looking at the ground.

"He's staying with you, then?" Ulala guessed.

"Until the Nanjo Group can find a family member willing to take him in, pretty much. I don't blame him for being so shy," Naoya responded. "The other kid, by the way, is Hiro Kuze. His parents asked me to babysit while they were out of town for the day."

Maya look at Minato, then at Hiro, for a few moments, an idea forming in her head. If it was true Nyarlathotep might have manipulated the Kirijo Group into those experiments, and Minato was possibly doomed for some sort of trouble...

"...hey, Naoya? You know about the Persona game, right?" Maya asked.

"Yes, of course," Naoya answered before looking at Maya with a serious expression. "...are you suggesting..."

"I know we probably shouldn't, but...if _he_ might be planning to make his life as bad as Tatsuya's, maybe it wouldn't help to give him a little boost in the form of a Persona?" Maya suggested.

"Will it work, though? The three of us have Personas, he doesn't...we would need at least two other children, and I don't think the sight of three grown adults trying to round up children to play the Persona game is exactly a sight parents want to see," Naoya pointed out.

"I know, but...hm, it's worth a try, isn't it?" Maya asked.

"Maybe..." Naoya looked at Minato. "Minato, Hiro, do you want to learn a game?"

"...w-what kind of game?" Minato asked, looking up at his cousin/caretaker. Hiro only responded by getting off the bench and approaching the four, looking even more curious than he did before.

"It's called the Persona game, and here is how you play..."

\--

_10 years later..._

\--

Junpei was telling the rumor about Sumaru City to the rest of SEES the following evening, Minato simply listening. Mitsuru seemed uncomfortable at the mention of Sumaru City, Yukari couldn't help but listen intently, Ken and Koromaru were listening with wide eyes, Aigis barely looked interested, and Akihiko and Fuuka were too busy with homework to properly pay attention. Shinji was...wherever he did this late in the day, presumably. Ikutsuki had overheard the story about halfway through, and decided to listen to it himself.

"That's quite a tale," the chairman remarked as Junpei finished. "Where did you hear all of that?"

"Some kids at the school. Apparently they took a trip to Sumaru over break, and heard the rumor from some girl working at the nearby detective agency," Junpei answered.

"It kind of sounds like an interesting place," Yukari admitted. "Maybe the next time we get time off from school, assuming we don't need to worry about Tartarus for a while, we could go there?"

"Perhaps," Mitsuru answered, "but I wouldn't count on it. Sumaru is a ways away from Port Island, and we won't know what might happen by the next break we have."

Junpei tried to plead his case with Mitsuru, pleading for the possibility of visiting another town rumored to have had robots and monsters running around in the past, until Minato finally stood up and said, "I'm heading out for a quick walk before the Dark Hour."

Minato strolled by the school on his walk, his thoughts wandering. It was getting close to the next full moon, he hoped they were just a few floors below the next barrier...

Minato suddenly came to a halt, noticing a blue butterfly flutter around him. He couldn't help but give a small smile upon recognizing the butterfly. In hindsight, he probably should have told Junpei earlier that he was well aware of Sumaru's rumors; Minato had visited the town when he was a kid, after all. He still remembered Naoya teaching him the Persona game, the other adults trying to explain what he would see upon completing the game, the other kid sharing a confused look with him before they decided to give it a try.

The result was the two of them winding up in that other place, the man with the butterfly mask allowing them to see their Personas, Orpheus and Arsène. "You do not need them for a while yet, I assure you," he informed, noticing the awe in their eyes.

The butterfly's color briefly flickered to gold, then back to blue, as if in response to Minato recalling that fateful day. The Wild Card held out a finger for the butterfly to perch on.

"It's been a while, Philemon."


End file.
